The Wild Ones
by starryskyondragon'sback
Summary: Marleene Brando never wanted a soulmate. She never wanted a lot of things to happen but they did anyway.
1. It begins, for me, here on this road

**_AN_** ** _: Quick author's note before we begin. Story features fairly strong language. I know that's a weird thing to warn about. In movie terms, it would have to be rated r for the language alone, nothing else._**

* * *

" _Those with soulmates will always feel a pull towards them, like magnets, even before they turn eighteen. After they turn eighteen, however, the name of their soulmate appears in the first place they are touched by their soulmate."_

" _Mr. Brotch? What happens if you and your soulmate never actually touch?"_

" _Then unfortunately you'll never know who it is. The pull between soulmates, however, causes an inherent drive to find their match, even if the contact is on accident. Once contact is made, the soulmates will have an even stronger pull to stay together."_

 _Conversation with Amata Almodovar and Edwin Brotch in class, 2273_

 **1."It begins, for me, here on this road."**

Marleene Brando didn't roll her eyes. She was the chamberlain and took her job fucking seriously, thank you very much. But if she had to listen to Christine one more time about her hopes of finding her soulmate (and how much she was hoping it was Freddy), she was going to tear her hair out.

Well, maybe just the one braid. Force the Overseer to let her shave the side of her head. Wouldn't that be something exciting in this piss ass boring Vault?

"I understand why you're worried," she said. And she did. Not _personally_ , mind. She much preferred not having a soulmate or, since that was unlikely, never coming in to physical contact with hers. But Amata cared a lot and for her sake, Marleene had learned to at least sort of care about everyone else's soulmates.

"It's not so much that I'm worried. I just...I don't want to end up like Allan and Gloria Mack. You know?"

Out of all the couples in the Vault, the Macks were the cautionary tale. Even Wally and Susie admitted it. They weren't soulmates. Marleene suspected that Allan Mack had felt that pull once upon a time, maybe still did, and resented Gloria for not being whoever he was supposed to be matched with. Hence the beatings that she wasn't supposed to know about. Of course, official word in the Vault was that the Macks didn't have soulmates. Marleene didn't buy into that any more than she did the idea that there was nothing outside. If they were the only ones left, then it stood to reason that their soulmates would be in the Vault and they would _definitely_ have them _because_ it was the best way to make sure kids happened. And yet she knew for a fact that a handful of the older Vault residents, her father included, had their soul marks and most of those weren't their spouses.

Of course, her mom was dead and her dad had never remarried. Assuming her dad was telling the truth about her since there weren't any records of Catherine Brando in the vault.

She'd looked. Extensively.

"Yeah. I know." She sighed, thumb turning the pages up on the bible she kept on the desk in her office.

Christine was quiet for a moment, looking away. Marleene was left kind of hoping she'd leave so she could get back to her reading.

"Do you ever think about it?" Christine asked finally, almond shaped eyes meeting Marleene's. "About having a soulmate, I mean." That was a new question. Somehow Christine had never asked that before. No one but Amata had ever asked and it was only the once. Well, her dad had but he'd been worried about the answer.

Like it would have fucking changed anything. Live in the vault, die in the vault, right?

"I used to. And then I realized that it wouldn't matter if I had a soulmate anyway. I'll still be forced to have kids whether I like it or not for the future of the Vault."

"Oh."

Belatedly she realized that Christine had actually been looking for reassurance. Shit. Okay. She could fix this. Fucking worst chamberlain ever. "But that's me. And you actually want kids so it won't be that bad. Honestly, if I did have a soulmate in the Vault, I'd prefer it wasn't Stevie or Wally which you don't need to worry about. Me? I actually kind of have to worry about them. Though I'd probably stab either of them if they even thought they could touch me. And then the Overseer would get pissed at me because I fucked up his cute little breeding plans."

Christine smiled. "I feel bad but that does kind of make me feel better about the whole thing, actually."

"See? Bright sides." Marleene glanced at her Pip-boy. "And you have just enough time to go get lunch before your break is over."

"I should probably do that." Christine hopped up out of the chair and just before she left, she leaned back into the close enough to a closet Marleene worked in. "And Marleene? Thanks."

"That's what I'm here for."

After Christine left, Marleene stretched upwards, feeling vertebrae in her back pop and slide back into place. She didn't think she was hungry but she knew that if she didn't get anything to eat, she'd turn into a mutant rage monster before dinner time came around.

She eyed the not-Bible book she'd been reading. The protagonist had just made contact with the secret group she figured would give him the powers hinted at on the back cover but how that happened, she wasn't quite sure.

She sighed. No, she needed to eat. Avoiding contact with the Overseer, particularly another reprimand on how she needed to do her duty to the Vault, remained at the top of all of her very short dream lists.

Fed and happy meant that she wasn't going to snap at anyone, which meant no lectures about that.

Food it was, then.

She got up and walked out of her office, making sure to lock the door behind her. She and the Tunnel Snakes were on better terms these days (as it turned out, not being forced to be around each other every fucking hour of every fucking day made them not hate each other) but she still didn't trust them not to prank her at best or destroy something at worst. And if they touched her book, so help her...

"Hey, Nosebleed!" A leather clad arm slung over her shoulder.

Speak of the devil.

"What do you want, Butch?"

"Just wanted to come down, see how you were doin'. That's not a crime now, is it?"

She started walking and Butch kept his arm around her. "I'm not helping you break into anywhere again. Because I'm always the one who gets caught. Do you know how long Alphonse yelled at me last time? Two hours. Two hours, Butch. I'm not doing it."

"Aww, come on, Marleene. Don't be a square. All I'm asking is for you to go and see what movie will be playing tonight. That's it. Teeny tiny ask."

"Uh huh. And what's in it for me, if I did that?"

He grabbed one of her braids and used the end to tickle her nose until she jerked away. "Free haircut?

She wrinkled her nose. "You're not touching my hair, Butch."

"I'm touching it right now. You do realize how fried your ends are right?"

"You realize you put gum in my hair when we were nine and I _had_ to have it all cut off, right?"

"That was how many years ago?"

"'That was how many years ago?' Oblivious as always, Butch. That's not the point."

"And you're a fucking square. We're even."

She grinned, shaking her head. "Oh, please. I'm more of a rebel than you'll ever be and I don't even need the jacket."

Butch stopped briefly, jaw dropped. "Hey, hey, hey. Ease off the jacket, Mar."

"That jacket is all you care about. Actually, is it your jacket or your hair?"

He had to jog a couple of seconds to catch back up to her. "And now you go for my hair? Damn, Marleene, what's got your panties in a knot?"

"Why do you care so much about my panties again? Susie not putting out anymore?"

When Butch tried to drape his arm over her again, looking to make her bear the most of his fat ass, Marleene elbowed his ribs. She didn't really think about it. It wasn't hard, compared to the full-blown fights they had before they graduated. Just a playful jab.

Except he staggered away from her, hands going to the spot on his ribs, eyes wide.

She stopped and stared at him, one eyebrow raised. If she didn't know better, she'd almost think the blood was legit draining from his face. "Shit, Butch, I didn't get you that hard. What, you got broken ribs from fighting with Wally again?"

Butch just stared at her. Her entire life, she'd never seen the expression on his face. It almost scared her because she didn't know that one. It would have scared her if she hadn't long grown out of being afraid of him.

"Butch?" And now she was using what Amata called her "chaplain voice". Shit.

"I...I gotta go."

Before she could say a word, Butch bolted.

Marleene stared after him, half ready to call after him. Then she shook her head, staying put. "Boys are just weird."

She couldn't stop herself from thinking about that weird ass expression on his face though as she headed to the diner. Had to be more than just broken ribs. She'd _given_ him broken ribs once and he'd managed to laugh while punching her in the face in return. And swearing up a storm, which had delighted her because for once she'd been able to match him word for word without any of the adults getting involved. Him-broken ribs. Her-broken nose.

"Marleene!"

Amata's voice yanked her out of her thoughts. She was seated at one of the booths with Susie and Janice, waving a fry in the air. Somehow Marleene had managed to walk to the diner without realizing it. "How's that book coming?"

Marleene plopped down next to Janice, stealing one of Amata's fries and shoving it in her mouth. On the walk over, she'd gone from sort of hungry to no appetite at all but even though it tasted like ass, she wasn't going to say no to fries. The day she did was the day she died. Or the day she convinced Butch to take her out of her misery because _fries_.

"Mmm. Keep being interrupted. I'm pretty sure he's gonna learn the big secret here soon. Janice, have you decided on any names?"

One of Janice's hands went, predictably, to her still as yet flat stomach. Flatish.

"No, we're...we're waiting until we know what we're having."

"A dinosaur," Marleene said, nodding decisively. She could have put a bet down, and won, on Janice's confused expression and Amata's eye roll. "A dinosaur? Because you made it sound like you didn't know what it was?"

"Mar, I haven't laughed at that joke since the third grade," Amata snipped back, delicately eating a couple more of her fries and slapping Marleene's hand when the other girl went to steal another.

Marleene grinned. "Fuck you, I'm hilarious."

Amata opened her mouth to say something when loud, male, raucous chatter entered the diner. She twisted around to see Wally, Freddie, and Paul come in. Paul, laughing, nudged Freddie until he stumbled.

No Butch.

The worry she was trying to ignore popped back up.

"Ugh. The Tunnel Snakes. Why are they here?" Janice grimaced.

"Because unfortunately they have to eat lunch too." Marleene took advantage of Amata's distraction to steal another fry. It literally tasted like ashes now and she forced herself to swallow it down. "Sorry, Janice. I know you like Wally."

Her hand dropped to her belly, again.

Like it was a secret. There _were_ no secrets in Vault 101.

"Where's Butch?" Amata asked.

"Dunno. He pounced on me when I was on my way here. I think he's got broken ribs because I elbowed him and he wigged out."

Amata and Janice exchanged a look that Marleene missed, attention suddenly caught by a stain on her sleeve. _Where'd that come from?_ Her Pip-boy beeped softly and she twisted her wrist to peer at the screen.

"Shit," she hissed, standing up, stealing a glance at Pepper Gomez. Sure enough, the woman was wiping her hands and was clearly preparing to leave. "Shit fuck shit."

"What's wrong?" Amata casually placed a hand over the rest of her fries.

"Forgot Pepper had a scheduled meeting with me. Shit, I'll see you guys later."

Marleene bolted out of the diner like she had mole rats on her tail.

Amata turned to Janice, sighing. "I love her but she's the single most oblivious person I've ever met. Not that that's saying anything although she somehow managed to beat Butch out for that spot."

"At least her soulmate is actually in the vault. Mine isn't...who I'd like it to be."

"I know. But we have something to look forward to when she turns eighteen."

"I'll make sure we have popcorn."

Amata linked her pinky with Janice's. "Deal."

* * *

 ** _AN_ _: There will be five chapters of this. It's already written out. Please let me know what y'all think. I started this because most of the soulmate!AU's (did I do that correctly?) make me a little uncomfortable given the whole lack of choice thing that comes inherently with this sort of story. So I tried to address the parts that make me go "Ummm…"_**

 ** _Story title and chapter titles come from The Wild One (1953)._**


	2. What are they fighting about?

**2\. "What are they fighting about?"**

"Three weeks. Three weeks you've been avoiding me, you greasy-haired bastard," Marleene snarled, stepping into the barbershop as Butch liked to call it, just as he was closing the scissors on Amata's hair. His hand slipped with a crisp _schlink_ and cut up into the rest of Amata's dark hair.

Normally that would have pissed Amata off but the fact that Marleene's explosion was now just gave her prime seating to watch the fireworks. She could bolt when things got hot and heavy, which she knew would happen.

This should have been a textbook match. The entire Vault knew this day was coming, had for years. Amata had thought it would happen a little sooner but no one had guessed that Butch would literally start _hiding_ from Marleene as soon as she turned eighteen, nor would anyone have guessed that it would take her three weeks to go after him in classic Marleene style.

"Don't know what you're talking about."

There was a tremor in his voice and he quickly cleared his throat to hide it.

Her lip curled. "Don't know, my ass! Do you think I'm an idiot? Do you?"

"'Course not, Nosebleed."

"So you think you can just call me that again like everything is fucking hunky dory?" She stepped up to him and jabbed him in the chest with her forefinger. Butch flinched away from her touch but almost immediately leaned back toward her.

Amata didn't bother to hide her smile, unnoticed by the pair even though they were standing right in front of her…

"Yeah, well, it takes two to tango!"

Amata almost couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Really, Butch? You couldn't have come up with something that _wasn't_ a sexual euphemism? She rolled her eyes.

"And, yet, here we are. Why have you been avoiding me?"

"Maybe you've been avoiding me! Didja ever think of that?"

At this point, Amata could practically see the steam billowing out of Marleene's ears.

"Me? Avoid you? Why the fuck would I be doing that?"

"Because-Because you were pissed at me for not getting you a birthday present!"

Amata kept her snicker to herself. She knew for a fact that Butch had been behind the cake Marleene had gotten anonymously but he'd sworn her to secrecy after getting her help for it. Now, the lie he'd just told her was making Marleene swell up like an inflated radroach.

"Yeah because that makes sense. If anything, I'd be pissed because you actually have a place here. Do you know how many people here actually care a dipshit about the Bible other than my dad and me? Old Lady Palmer and Jonas. That's it. That's-" Marleene paused and Amata knew she was trying to figure out where she went off track. "Dude, not the fucking point. You've been the one avoiding me. Admit it."

"I'm not admitting to nothing. You're the one in here disturbing my job!"

Oh, good. They were winding up for a brawl.

Of course, that was when Amata saw it. A radroach, bigger than nearly any other one she'd ever seen and nearly shimmering in the light from the slick on its back. She froze.

"Marleene?" she asked, voice shaking.

"What?" Both snapped at her. Butch looked startled like he'd forgotten she was there. Marleene just looked annoyed.

Amata just pointed.

The pair looked. Butch shrieked, predictably. Marleene stomped on it with a snarl, temper flaring that a _bug_ interrupted them. "Fucking dickass radroaches." She stomped again, relishing the way it crunched and splattered.

Settled a little now that she'd gotten the violence out of her system, she turned back to Butch only to have his left hand sliding along her ribs and then his mouth was on hers.

Amata grinned. Penny in the air.

Several things happened then. A burn carved itself across Marleene's ribs along the point of contact with his hand. A sense of _matching_ came over her and she gasped in surprise, allowing a second tongue to make its way into her mouth. It was like a dam had broken in her mind and a flood of gratitude and enough heat to make her weak-kneed hit her like a falling bookshelf. When she recovered, sort of, she found herself clinging to Butch, legs wrapped around his hips, the core of her body aligned perfectly against the interested hardness of his. And kissing him like she was drowning and the only thing that could keep her alive was him.

Her hand tangled in his black hair at the nape of his neck and pulled. She didn't expect the ghost bite of pain and subsequent flare of pleasure and neither did Butch, evidently, because he dropped her feet to the vault floor but kept kissing her, making small, desperate sounds into her mouth and through his nose. He tried pressing as close to her as he could while they were still clothed.

Marleene pulled away and clocked him in the jaw with her fist, feeling an answering shock in her own face but all it did was fuel her fury.

Butch recoiled, blinking like he was having trouble refocusing.

Amata settled back in the chair, relaxing from her preparing to bolt position. They weren't immediately going to have sex unless this was some weird mate foreplay she didn't know about. Instead, she was going to get an interesting fight. The penny had dropped.

"What the hell, Marleene?" Butch's eyes ran up and down her frame, lingering on her heaving chest.

The arousal and curiosity and _relief_ had her shoving at him, and she ignored the way tiny sparks of pleasure lit along the nerves in her hands at contact with his body. "You fucking jackass!"

It seemed to get through to his mind that the thing his body had suddenly geared up for wasn't going to happen because he took a step back.

"Shit." Guilt flickered through their bond.

"Shit is right! Was this why you were fucking avoiding me? Because you knew we were mates? Am I so fucking abhorrent to you that the idea of closing this bond had you literally hiding?" _Whoa, where did that come from?_ She shook her head, teeth almost bared.

His head reared back. "That wasn't it!"  
"No? Then why? Why the fuck wouldn't you at least tell me, Butch?"

"I was trying to protect you from-"

"From what exactly? Being burdened by your dumbass emotions for the rest of my goddamn life?"

Butch recoiled. Hurt blossomed and it was like she'd slapped herself in the face _and_ doused herself in ice water at the same time. She shook her head, trying to shake off the emotional whiplash she was getting from him, because of him. Something.

"Butch, I-"

"Nah, just forget it, alright? I know how you feel about soulmates. I was trying to protect ya from having to deal with the reality of having something you hated be forced on you. But it's fine. Whatever. You won't have to actually deal with me." He pulled his apron off and dropped it on the floor.

He walked out.

Marleene gaped after him, trying to figure out what the hell was happening. She swayed after him, feeling a pull in her chest, to follow him, to be close. He wasn't surprised by their bond, only she was. Which meant he'd been feeling it for a while. And he'd been resisting it after she turned eighteen? How had he been resisting it?

"Butch, wait!"

Finally she took off after him, nearly running into the door herself and skidding off down the hall.

Amata, left sitting in the chair and completely forgotten, sighed. "Looks like it's ponytails until I can pull Butch away from Mar."

Marleene tracked this new pull to Butch, not knowing quite where it was leading. No, she did know. It lead to Butch.

Unfortunately, it didn't warn her about incoming traffic and she ran nose first into her dad's chest.

"Easy there, kiddo." He put his hands on her shoulders and she shuddered away from his touch. James Brando frowned, slowly pulling his hands away. "So it's finally happened then."

The words registered and she stopped trying to see past him, dark eyes fixed on his. "Wait. Wait, what? You _knew_? You knew this was going to happen?"

"Marleene, I've known you two were soulmates since your tenth birthday party."

"Shit, Dad. You listened and you never said a word?"

He shrugged. "I thought you would recognize what was between you two and that your...opinions of soulmates were merely the result of your frustration with your own."

She gaped at him. "No. Soulmates haven't made anyone in the vault very happy. If they haven't been found, then they're dead and you _fucking know that_.

"Language." He didn't address that she crossed a line, didn't comment on how much she knew that hurt because she'd just snapped at him about her mother, his soulmate. She'd rather he had if only to give her something to vent at other than the real issue there.

She huffed, cracking her knuckles and immediately shook her hands. Put her under the teeniest bit of stress and she went back to that stupid habit. Damn it. "Dad, I've just been forced into a biological imperative to have kids that I don't want. And even if I did want them, I'd be a shitty mom. I think the situation allows for some swearing."

"Having a soulmate isn't as bad as you fear it will be."

"And what happens when I die in childbirth like Mom did?" Marleene asked quietly. That threw James back for a loop. Not just the question, but the "when," not "if." Marleene knew they'd never really talked about Catherine, that it hurt her father too much. But she'd always known that if she was going to die, it would be the same way her mom did. "Butch would be saddled with a newborn and a dead mate. He already has a little bit of a drinking problem. What do you imagine will happen when he has to go through the exact same fucking pain you did?"

He sighed, shaking his head. "Just go talk to him."

"Yeah, this ain't gonna go well. Fine. I'll continue doing exactly what I was doing when you stopped me."

She bowed mockingly before following the pull in her chest.

Marleene found him in her hiding spot down near the reactor. He was sitting down, legs spread, knees bent, and throwing a baseball at the opposite wall. "Thought you didn't want to be around me," he muttered, catching the ball and throwing it again. He didn't look up at her.

Marleene didn't answer at first, instead looking at Butch. He'd always been attractive though his pretty looks had been turned into something almost irresistibly handsome. Then again, now she knew exactly why she'd always thought so even if she had ignored it.

She thought back to a class picture that had been taken when they were twelve, which she remembered primarily because of the giant pimple on the end of her nose. At the time and pretty much until the G.O.A.T., she'd hated that picture more than any other. It was one of the only pictures both of them were actually smiling in, genuine actual smiling. It had been a brief throwback to before he'd started his stupid gang, when they'd been friends. But they'd looked happy standing next to one another, not fighting like any of the other forced class pictures.

Looking at him now, there wasn't any trace of the happy boy he'd been that day and it was her fault. Sort of.

"Take a picture. It'll last longer." His voice sounded a little thick, like he wanted to cry.

"I was thinking of one."

He caught the ball and looked up at her. A wall of grief hit her. She swallowed hard, uncomfortable now that she was facing someone else's actual emotions other than her own. It was easy to pretend that other people didn't. Faced with the legitimate, inarguable existence of someone else's...

"What the fuck?" he asked.

"The one at twelve. Remember? I had the..." she gestured at her nose.

He frowned. "I teased you about that for two days."

"I thinned out your hair gel with your mom's vodka. We were even."

"That was a dick move."

"Yeah, well." She slid down the lockers next to him, not close enough to touch though every cell in her body wanted to curl up next to him to make his pain to stop. "The nose thing hurt. Especially coming from you."

"Sorry." He looked away from her again.

"Nah. The hair gel thing pretty much settled that score."

They were quiet. Butch resumed his throwing and catching.

Marleene started to pick at a loose thread on her vault suit until she jerked in irritation, twisting around to face him.

"Fuck. Okay. I can't sit here like this. I never wanted a soul mate. It was pretty much at the bottom of the list of things I might have wanted and that list was pretty damn short."

"You made that pretty fucking clear."

"I know. I'm-I'm-God, I suck at apologizing. But you had no right to keep this from me. How long did you know?"

"Mar, you elbowed me after I turned eighteen. And I-you-fuck."

He looked so frustrated and uncomfortable that she started to laugh. "What a pair we make. I can't apologize. You can't explain."

"We suck."

"You think?  
They settled back into quiet. It wasn't long before she was huffing again.

"Okay, we actually need to talk about this. I know you don't want to. And I don't want to. Do you want to do anything about this...thing?"

"You don't."

"I'm not talking about me. I'm talking about you."

"I'm not fucking forcing you to do anything that you don't want to."

"We can ignore the fact that you didn't fucking _tell me_ before you activated the full bond."

"We wouldn't even be in this mess if you hadn't touched me before that."

"You're seriously blaming me?"

"I _wanted_ a soul mate and I got one that doesn't even care!" He clamped his mouth shut, bright blue eyes wide. Pink exploded across his cheeks.

Marleene just stared at him. "You-what?"

"Just forget it." Butch hauled himself to his feet and started to walk away. Marleene reached up and grabbed a hold of his hand. The contact made her muscles relax and that terrified her. Butch didn't seem to fare any better what with the way he swayed toward her. Through their bond, she could feel how much her touch meant to him, how much he needed it. And as much as she wanted to run screaming, they were sort of mostly friends. His running away from her the past three weeks had severely pissed her off.

She didn't immediately let go of him, instead, turning their hands over so she could look at the back of his. "I don't want a soul mate," she said again. "But if you've been feeling this pull for months then…" She trailed off, frowning. He scowled, which told her everything he needed to know. "You might have been a dick to me when we were younger but you don't deserve to feel this itch like this. And I don't like being ignored. We can compromise?"

"It won't be enough," he told her.

"We can cross that bridge when we get to it."

He studied her. "What do you have in mind?"

"I'm not holding it as a claim over you. We weren't a thing before. There's no reason for us to be a thing now. Right?"

Butch nodded slowly.

"So I can be your side hoe except for, you know, the mate contact. I know we don't actually need it, small mercies, it just makes life a shit ton easier."

His ears turned bright pink. Marleene wasn't quite sure what she was getting from him but it didn't really matter. They needed to work this out. "How am I being the rational one in this situation? That isn't going to work."

Marleene jerked her hand away. "Fine. Whatever. That's cool. You do whatever the fuck you want."

The loss of contact _hurt_ and she saw the same feeling in Butch, felt it over their bond. She stood anyway and walked past him, hating that everything inside her wanted her to turn around.

* * *

 ** _AN_ _: Yay, I remembered that today is Friday! Hope y'all liked the chapter, let me know what you think. I enjoy this chapter._**

 ** _Also, once again, chapter title is not made of my words._**


	3. But once trouble was on its way

3\. "But once the trouble was on its way, I was just goin' with it."

Marleene flailed awake, limbs spasming around her.

"-damn it. Wake up!"

A pillow smacked her in the face and then she was in a sitting position, staring at a red-in-the-face Amata. "Dude. What the fuck?"  
Amata smacked her in the face with the pillow again. "Did you know?"

"Stop hitting me! I think I'm awake. Did I know what?"

"Your dad is gone. He left the Vault."

To her credit, Amata didn't immediately keep going. Marleene just kind of blinked at her. "Gone."

"Yeah. Gone."

The words didn't make sense. Nobody _left_ the Vault. Not anymore if her suspicions about Mary Kendall and Ellen were right. Besides, James wasn't young enough to-

Her jaw dropped open.

"Son of a bitch."

"What?"

"Dad's not from the Vault."

Amata screwed up her face like Marleene had just spoken Greek. "I'm sorry. What?"

"Think about it. We-" she waved her hand, cutting herself off. "Too long. Not important right now. This could have waited for morning. Why did you-"

Amata interrupted her. "My father thinks that you know something about it. But I don't-They killed Jonas!"

It felt like her brain just sort of stopped. Warm, kind Jonas. He couldn't be...dead. But that meant-

Her dad gone. Jonas dead. They'd be coming for her next, for answers or to kill off the last remnant of plague her father and Jonas represented. Either way-

Marleene got up, suddenly furious and the strength of that emotion boiled over across her bond. An answering curiosity and worry came back. She could tell she'd woken him up but she shoved the connection away, focusing intently on Amata. "Who?"

"I think it was Stevie Mack. But I don't- Mar, you've got to get out of here."

"Where? Where am I supposed to go? Outside too?"

Amata just kind of shrugged. Her eyes hadn't left Marleene, focused with the same sort of desperate intensity that Marleene knew from years of the Tunnel Snakes harassing her. She was scared. That pissed Marleene off, not only that Amata was scared but that she couldn't beat the problem to a pulp. Fucking shit fuck.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"I don't want you to die too."

Marleene didn't move. This was fucking bullshit that she was having her choices taken away, _again_. Worry slipped across the bond again, more insistent and accompanied by a tug in his direction. She huffed. Butch. Wrench in the fucking works. A traitorous pang went through her heart at the thought of leaving him. But if she left, he could be like any of the other adults in the Vault. A missing mate but the bond tended to weaken with distance and time apart. It was the only way Mary Kendall had managed to have the kids she had.

She could take back her choice and give him a better one. Whatever was Outside had to have other people she could choose, _if_ she wanted.

"Fine." Maybe he and Susie could get together. She ignored the pang of jealousy and near hatred at the thought. Ridiculous. They didn't have a claim on each other, not a real one.

Amata pressed something heavy and metal into her hand. Marleene pulled away to see a gun in her hand. "Take it," Amata urged.

"What? No. I'm not taking a gun."

"Mar-"  
"No. Okay? Ten Commandments. Kind of a big fucking deal. Number seven is no killing. And if I see Stevie Mack and I have a gun, I'm shoving it so far up his ass, he'll need to cough to get it out."

Amata stomped her foot. "And how many times did God have the Israelites kill their enemies? Samson's whole deal was killing people! And what about David? I mean, granted, the whole Bathsheba thing was just really awful. But his other big story is with the big dude."

Marleene blinked. "Since when do you know the Bible stories?"

"I don't know if I believe any of them. They're, you know, kind of weird. Also, weird incest. Ew. But God is important to you so I paid attention because you're my best friend." Amata shrugged.

Marleene stared at her, genuinely touched. But still, she pushed the gun back into Amata's hand. "I know how to fight because of the Tunnel Snakes. You never fought back. I'll be okay."

"They won't bother me though. My dad won't let them."

"It's Stevie Fucking Mack. He is the literal worst. I don't trust him and neither should you. If your dad thinks you know anything about me, which you do now, then Stevie will probably have license to almost kill."

Amata just shook her head. "Meet you at my dad's office?"

"Always wanted to break in." Marleene grinned, not really feeling it. Amata stuck out the hand without the gun in it. Marleene pressed hers palm to palm with it. Wiggle, wiggle, fist bump, clap, snap, hug. "Go. I'll be right behind you."

Amata left.

Marleene dressed quickly, taking the time to wrap her knuckles in short, efficient movements. Not long after her tenth birthday, she'd discovered an old, dust covered punching bag. Since she had never been particularly good at baseball despite being on the team, she'd had to find her own way to exercise and punching things was incredibly therapeutic for a girl constantly picked on. And after breaking into the media room for the nth time, she'd found an old vid called "Rocky". It looked legit so she modeled her training after his.

She had a feeling she would need it now. A spike of fear erupted through the mate bond and her head whipped around to stare at the wall where she knew Butch was. What the hell?

Marleene left her apartment to see a couple of radroaches start to overwhelm Officer Kendall. An infestation then, probably brought on by her dad leaving. They were lucky it wasn't mole rats.

Kendall been a dick to her her entire life but no one deserved death by bugs.

Marleene charged over, kicking one of them and immediately turning around to stomp on another before it could leap on Kendall. He whacked the third with his police baton before turning on Marleene.

She backpedaled away from him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Following orders."

Okay, she'd landed in the fucking twilight zone at some point because what the everloving hell? "I'm friends with your daughter, asswipe! Are you really going to fucking beat me with that thing?" she snarled back after her moment of confusion, standing her ground. It was a conditioned response to the Tunnel Snakes and she knew it but that knowledge didn't stop her at all.

"I'm supposed to bring you in." The baton drooped to point at the ground. Uncertain now that he was faced with a fight. Just like the Tunnel Snakes. Which meant that as soon as she turned her back-

Her eyes narrowed. "Does that require you to beat me?"

His hesitation gave her just enough time to move before he could raise the baton again and she cracked in to his jaw with her fist. He dropped. Marleene sighed, flexing her hand and checking for any pain. Nope. Fan-fucking-tastic. She stomped down on a radroach again. "Dickless bugs."

A swell of fear, like it couldn't be controlled anymore, had her swiveling her head again to see Butch charging towards her. "What's wrong?"

"My ma. My-she-radroaches!"

Everything that Butch didn't say, she understood. Marleene swept past him, fists clenched at her sides. Butch tagged along behind her, not close enough to touch but close enough that the waves of panic he was feeling burned into her.

Their apartment door slid open with a hiss and then she could hear roach chittering. "Get away from me, you filthy thing!" She was slurring her words. Badly. Still drunk then though she was pretty much always drunk.

Marleene didn't hesitate to descend on the radroaches with a fury. With every stomp, she swore insults at the bugs. One leaped for Ellen and she managed to punch it out of the air. Radroach guts splattered her hands and wrappings.

"Oh, that is disgusting." Marleene wrinkled her nose as she shook her hand to get at least some of it off.

She looked over at Butch just in time for his hands to grab her face and pull her in. The hunger and relief that exploded in him caused an answering reaction in her and he didn't react to the dead bug smeared on his face when her hands went to it. Goosebumps erupted along her skin when he slid his hands down her skin. One of his fingers brushed the mark along her ribs and electricity arced from the touch and she pressed up against his body, seeking more contact. Butch seemed to have felt her reaction because his fingers went back to that spot, pressing, reassuring, seeking.

She wanted him, wanted his touch. She'd been ignoring the way they felt together but nothing in her life had ever felt so fucking _right_. For the first time in her life, she got it. That feeling of matching she'd had when they'd completed the bond had arrived again in full force along with the addition of not quite knowing where she ended and he began. Time seemed to stand still when they burrowed into each other's souls and found fear and want and joy and pain and all the messy human emotions that everyone tried to hide but when faced with a mirror shone in all the cracked, flawed beauty that they were at their deepest core, no matter how hideous and unloveable they thought they were. That was the point. The understanding of another person completely and being understood completely in return.

Which is why when he pulled away, regret tainting their bond, she tried to follow, wanting that connection to stay. Instead he angled his head to press his forehead against hers, fingers buried in her hair.

"Mar, you don't want this."

She blinked, barely able to follow what he was saying. Everything in her screamed for him and she could feel the strength of how much he wanted her as acutely as she could feel her own desire. "How-What?"

"What are you doing awake?"

When he didn't get a comprehensible answer, he pulled his face away. Slowly she gave him the bare bones of the situation. Her dad had left. She was being hunted. She had to leave too.

His blue eyes searched hers, lines appearing between his eyebrows. Then he pressed his forehead against hers again. She could feel him bolstering himself before he stepped fully away.

The loss tore into her and she hated it, hated the loss, hated that she felt that way, but wanting _oh so badly_ to have that connection again.

And then he started taking off his leather jacket. "Whoa. What-what are you doing?" She stiffened up, eyes wide. As much as she enjoyed sex with him Before Marks, nothing about this timing was good even if her body and soul wanted that coupling again.

"Here." He handed her the jacket. It was warm from his body, smelled like his cologne. She stared at him.

"What the hell? I don't think I've seen you without your jacket since you got it. What are you doing?"

"I can't follow ya out. Ma needs me." They looked over to where Ellen had flopped back onto her bed, passed out. "But if I can't go with ya, my jacket can."

"Butch, you love that jacket."

"I know." Something crossed his face, something unfamiliar. It felt like he'd clamped down hard enough on the bond that she didn't get a corresponding hint as to what it was.

She shook her head. "I can't take it with me."

"I'm giving it to you."

"Dude. No."

He fucking rolled his eyes at her, took the jacket out of her hands, and draped it over her shoulders. The tiny amount of contact set her nerves back to buzzing. "I don't want to guilt you into taking it so just accept it, you jackass."

"Dickweed."

"Fuckhead."

Marleene lifted an eyebrow. The banter was calming, familiar, even as she felt the clock ticking. "That's a new one. Where'd that come from?"

"What can I say? You bring out my inner poet."

"So you're a poet and you know it?"

Butch groaned. "That was terrible."

A frown twisted her mouth as she stared at him. She couldn't...Ugh. Feelings. "I think I'm going to miss you."

"I think I'm going to miss you too." He smiled, the expression not meeting his eyes, and bumped his shoulder with hers. "Asshat."

It was hard, looking at him there, exposed without his leather jacket. A lump formed in her throat. How do you say goodbye to someone you don't know if you'll ever see again?

* * *

 ** _AN_ _: Thanks for reading, everyone! As always, chapter title from the same movie as the others. Please review and show the love or dislike. Y'all are awesome and I hope you have a fabulous day or night, whenever you read this. Slan!_**


	4. Where are you going when you leave here?

**4\. "Where are you going when you leave here?"**

Marleene ignored the raised eyebrows and dropped jaws when she strode into Moriarty's Saloon and plopped onto a bar stool. Gone was the too blue vault suit and carefully maintained hair. The boxer's wrappings on her hands were blood-stained.

"Vodka, please, Gob," she asked, voice a little crackly from disuse. "The whole bottle."

The ghoul's brow ridge lifted but he did as ordered. She knew he was watching out of the corner of his eyes when she started to unwrap her hands. She didn't care. She didn't care about any of the shit out here. She was on a wild fucking goose chase to find her dad and everyone and their fucking dog wanted something from her. She was sick and tired of it all.

"Have you found your father yet?" Gob asked.

"No. And I'm about ready to give up because once you cross what feels like the entire wasteland looking a man, you start feeling like it's hopeless. One more place and if he isn't there, I'm done. No more. He can go suck a dick for all I care."

"Where are you looking now?" Gob pulled the bottle cap stopper off and slid the bottle over to her.

"Right now? The bottom of this bottle. After I sleep off the drunken stupor, I'll be heading west to Vault 112. Guess what I don't want to be doing." Marleene took a swig, barely grimacing at the taste and without a cough to be seen.

"A Vault?" Gob asked, eyes flicking to the radio.

"Yup. A 100% bonafide Vault. Aren't I just so fucking lucky to have to go inside another one? How's the radio doing?"

She watched the switch in topic make Gob twitch. She almost felt bad but pretty much all that was left in her was disappointment. And heartache, but it was getting easier to ignore how much she wanted Butch the longer she was away and the farther she was away. "The signal's coming in loud and clear. You're the one who fixed whatever was wrong with it?"

"For you. Not for that asswipe Three Dog who seems to think that we all need to work together and 'fight the good fight.' You wanted it fixed. I had the opportunity. Bing, bang, boom."

"Gob! Get back to work!"

Gob flinched, head ducking. Marleene swiveled her head to look up where Moriarty was descending the stairs. Her eyes narrowed. "Who the fuck is he supposed to be helping? I'm the only one at the bar, you Irish bastard."

"I figured the Wasteland would cut that witty tongue out of you."

"There were some Talon Company mercs who tried." She tapped her wrappings with a crooked forefinger. "I cut theirs out first." She looked back up at Moriarty, grinning and showing off a chipped front tooth. "They're still wandering around out there, probably hating my guts. If they manage to hunt me down, they'll regret it."

"Fucking shame they didn't kill you first."

"Isn't it?" She smiled at him.

Moriarty made a disgusted noise before walking out the front door. Apparently in the time she'd been gone, he'd kept to his schedule of smoking every day at about six thirty. She glanced at her Pip-Boy to make sure. Yup. 6:37.

She stood up, bunching up her wrappings in one hand and swiping the bottle with the other. "I'll pay for it in the morning when I'm hungover and in no mood to haggle. See ya." It was safer this way. She knew she was a belligerent drunk. The fact that she'd been tossed out of the Muddy Rudder was proof enough of that. She didn't want to get shanked tonight when she was, _maybe_ , close to finding the apparently illusive James Brando.

Though she'd been close to finding him for weeks and had nothing to show for her efforts except a worse attitude.

She touched the mouth of the bottle to her forehead and walked out. She passed the spot she'd been standing the last time she was in town, watching Simms drag a barely conscious Burke out. She smirked at the memory, much the way she had when the sleeze had tried to convince her to blow up the town.

It wasn't that she particularly liked Megaton. It was a sinkhole of a town, the people were simple minded, and there was a fucking nuclear bomb in the middle of town ready to go off at any moment. Burke had made the point that she'd just be helping time along.

But Megaton was too close to Vault 101. Which didn't matter a whole lot. It didn't. It just really pissed her off that Burke thought she was so dumb and naive that he could manipulate her into hooking a detonator up to the bomb. She came from a vault. So fucking what? That didn't mean she lacked a brain between her ears.

She still savored the way his head had snapped back when she'd punched him as hard as she could in the jaw. He was a manipulative bastard and she'd enjoyed handing him over to Simms.

"Marleene. You're back." The gruff voice had her smiling and she turned to face Jericho, even if hearing her name stung.

"Always to look at your fuck ugly face."

"Still a bitch, I see."

"And you're still a dickfuck but you don't hear me crying about it."

"Watch it, girlie." He took a step towards her. Marleene lifted an eyebrow.

"Look. We both assume that we'd win that fight. Let's keep that cat in the box."

"What the fuck's that supposed to mean?"

"There was a- You know what, it's not important." She waved the hand holding the vodka bottle around. "It just means we've both won and we've both lost. And I don't think either of us should open the box."

His eyes narrowed, a hard speculation glinting in them. "You'd never make a raider, girlie. You're too smart."

"That's probably why no one wants me to be a raider. I'd have this entire wasteland crushed under my boot."

"What's stoppin' you?"

"Nothin'." She shrugged. "Maybe a misguided sense of morality. I'd make a terrible leader. I'm much better as The Lone Wanderer."

"You believe that shit?"

"Are you kidding me? Three Dog needs to pull his head out of his ass. I don't do good things because I'm 'The Savior of the Wasteland.'" She flicked her fingers in air quotes, nose wrinkling in disgust. "And if he actually paid attention, he'd have realized that I need a fucking attitude adjustment."

"You got the damn radio going again."

"Means to a goddamn end. You really think I'd do things just to make friends?"

He shook his head, chuckling. "You're one ornery yaoi guai cub, girlie."

"If you're lucky, I won't bite you when I get big."

"We'll see."

Heated promise lit into his eyes. She saw it. She glared at him, unblinking. "You aren't touching me, Jericho. I heard what you did to the Stahl girl. You even _think_ about trying the same thing on me, I will rip your dick off and shove it in your ear."

He just shook his head and the way he _dismissed_ her had her seething. "If I'd met you in my younger days."

"You wouldn't have been able to keep up. We'd have burned the fucking world all over again."

His head tipped to the side, barely. She could see the thought process he was going through, weighing pros and cons. He might not have known that's what he was doing, but that was clearly what he was doing.

"What's all this then?" They both turned their heads to see Simms approaching, one hand on his pistol like he thought they wouldn't fucking see it. His eyes flicked over her. Worry tightened the lines around his eyes. "Oh, Marleene. You're back."

"Sure am, Sheriff." She extended that last sound into a bit of a hiss and smiled at him even though she couldn't disguise the grimace at the sound of her name.

He took notice of her chipped tooth. "How long?"

"Haven't even been home yet. Sold stuff off. Went to Moriarty's to grab this," she lifted the hand holding the vodka bottle, "and now I'm on my way to get drunk as a raider in the privacy of my own home _alone_."

She glanced at Jericho to see how he'd react.

His lips curled into a smile. "I'll see you around, girlie."

"Adios, Jericho." Still, she watched him walk away and her muscles didn't relax until he'd vanished from sight.

"You're playing with fire there, Marleene."

"Told you to call me Brando."

"You're too young for that."

She took a swig of her vodka, grimacing as it went down. "I'm too young for a lot of shit. Just 'cause I'm from a vault, that doesn't mean I don't deserve to be called what I like."

"Only if you can back it up."

That stung but she swallowed down the retort. "I'm not looking to cause trouble, Simms."

"Trouble always finds you, Marleene." He touched the brim of his hat. "Take it easy there."

When she opened her front door, she was greeted by the sound of the robot whirring as it focused on her. "Oh. Miss Brando. You're back. You look well." It paused and Marleene watched it straighten up. If it had had an actual voice, she was pretty sure it would have cleared its throat. "Not that I really care."

She patted the bot on one of its eyestalks. "Love you too, Wadsworth."

"Are you planning on drinking alone this evening, or will you have a...partner?"

Marleene dropped her hand wrappings on the end table and plopped herself down onto the old couch she'd found and had hauled into her house. "I am consistantly amazed that you think I'd sleep with every person in Megaton. Every time." She took another swig of the vodka. She was getting there. Maybe she'd be able to numb out the bond with Butch. Wouldn't that be a fucking treat for once?

Wadsworth whirred quietly. "I'll make sure you have water ready for you're done."

"Thanks, bot boy."

A couple hours later, she stumbled out of Megaton, in no mood to talk to anyone. She made her way down the dirt path, way lit only by her Pip-Boy.

No thought to where she was going. But her feet pulled her in the direction of Vault 101.

She crawled up the mountain, cursing when she slipped on rocks. When she finally reached the top, she wandered around, eyes on the ground, searching. There was a moment of surprise through the bond, barely detectable in the haze from the alcohol.

"You son of a bitch," she slurred, finally pinpointing that he was directly below her. She sat down unsteadily into the dirt.

"Look at me. Drunk. Pafetic. No. Wait. Pathetic. 'M not the good little Nosebleed I used to be. Drunk of vodka like your mom." She laughed and it wasn't even a good sound to her own ears.

"Good little Nosebleed. Does it matter?" She picked up a rock. It was rough under her touch. "Was never a good Nosebleed. Amata was the Goody Two-Shoes." She hit the rock into the dirt. "Foul-mouthed fuckwad."

She hit with the rock harder. "You did this to me, you, you, piece of… Fuck you, okay?" She fell onto her back. "I was okay before you decided to complete the bond. I mean, sucking fucked for you. And it wasn't fair. But you know what? Wasn't fair that we were soulmates. I never wanted one. And we couldn't stand each other, you know?"

Her breath comes out in a huff. "No, we could. Used to. Then you got all jerky and I...Wasn't all your fault. Shoulda been nicer. I don't know how, Butch. I never learned. Dad tried to make me good like him and 'm not. G.O.A.T was a laugh. Sticking me the chamberlain. 'M not good enough. What's the point of faith when th'entire world falls apart around you?"

She closed her eyes. "You suck, dude. And I miss you so fucking much it hurts but I'll never go back. So I hope you're happy fucking Susie or Christine or whoever you decide to end up marrying and having cute little chubby black haired babies with her. Just no marrying Amata. I might have to break in just to kick your ass for marrying my best friend, you dick."

She got just enough worry, close, that her hand dug into the dirt, toward the pull. The world spun once and she fell into darkness.

* * *

 ** _AN_ _: Marleene might have one or two feelings. Awwwww. How cute._**

 ** _Necessary repeat of "chapter title is not mine, it's from the same movie as the others". Let me know what y'all think, please and thank you. Have a lovely day/night.  
_**


	5. You haven't fallen for this fellow

5\. "You haven't fallen for this fellow, have you?"

"You know, it really sucks when you think you've moved on and then the first chance you get to go crawling back to a place that doesn't actually want you, you do." Marleene shook her head as she punched in Amata's name into the terminal outside the Vault. "And I'm talking to myself. Fan-fucking-tastic."

That was her own fault and she wasn't going to even try to deny it. She'd left the dog in Megaton, didn't want him to get shot at like she'd done the first time she saw him.

Was talking to the dog any better?

Probably not. But, whatever.

She stepped back to watch the Vault door shudder and then roll open. Back into the fucking lion's den.

She paused. "I really hope that doesn't make me Daniel. He didn't drink." Still, she hesitated outside of the open door. Butch was inside. She knew it like she knew what getting shot felt like.

The link had faded a little. More than she would have expected actually. She knew she should be grateful but that didn't mean anything when she felt the loss of her match like an ache in her soul.

Amata needed her though, and fuck her sideways, she took care of her friends. She didn't have all that many.

So Marleene Brando returned to the only place to have ever kicked her out, head high.

She'd been in enough Vaults by that point to know what a wrong one felt like. The entrance sent cold shivers down her spine. As she moved, she pulled out her hand wraps and readied herself. Entering the atrium she was confronted with the sight of Old Man Taylor with a gun trained on...Freddie Gomez? _Why did he have a knife?_

"Okay. Seriously. What the fuck?" She didn't even flinch when both of them whirled around. She didn't twitch a muscle when Taylor fired his gun. When her ears stopped ringing, and she could feel she hadn't been shot, _thank God_ , she slowly let the breath out of her lungs. Freddie darted away.

"I didn't mean to fire, I really didn't. I just wanted to scare him off! But he had a knife! I can't be too careful with those rebels!" Taylor's hand was shaking bad enough that Marleene was pretty sure he was gonna fire again accidentally. "And you startled me!"

Her eyebrows raise. "Dad and I leave. We're gone for two months and the entire Vault loses its everloving fucking mind?"

"Watch your mouth, little missy."

"Taylor, it was barely watched when I was trapped in here with the rest of y'all."

"My wife _died_ because of you."

"I know. Well. It wasn't my fault. I was the one that killed the radroaches."

Taylor blinked, stunned. It didn't surprise her. She wasn't known for being particularly altruistic. Or even any altruistic. And that was back before she'd had her coming to Jesus moment.

"Son of a- Marleene?"

She turned to see Herman Gomez, again not firing at her, and she smiled fondly. It softened the hard glint in her eyes, the tense lines of her jaw. Made her look more human. "I didn't die." He looked her over, like he didn't believe what he was seeing, like she was some sort of ghost. She watched the realization that she was actually standing there dawn on his face.

"What are you- Amata?"

"Amata." Marleene didn't bother to watch Taylor scurry away but she was hyper aware of his movements. Consequences of living where pretty much everything was trying to kill her. "What happened down here?"

"What didn't? We lost a lot of people between the bugs and the confusion. It didn't help that we lost our doctor and you."

"And Jonas." Her eyes narrowed, lip curling just a little away from her teeth. "But Stevie Mack killed him. That wasn't our fault."

Gomez tensed up a little. "No, no it wasn't."

"That doesn't explain why Taylor had a gun on your fucking son."

"He _what_?"

The Vault was split between those wanting to open the door and those wanting to keep it closed. Most of the youth were in the former camp and the older folks clung stubbornly to the latter one.

Figures.

It was a little weird that Gomez was following her like he was. She knew where she was going and since this was in the young territory, she was safer than she was anywhere else in the Vault. The only person who had the balls to really threaten her was Wally, who apparently had sided with his father and the Overseer.

Apparently that had pissed Butch and Amata off to no end.

It didn't surprise Marleene. He'd always been the worst dick of the Snakes.

She rounded a corner and went nosefirst into a vault suit covered chest. Tingling lit up all over her face. That more than the sudden reawakening of the bond, like blood rushing back into a sleeping limb, told her who she'd just run into.

Hands went to her arms, to steady himself she'd guess. Or her.

Marleene didn't look up. She swallowed, frustrated that all of the pain and longing she'd suffered had been for nothing. But then…

She met Butch's eyes and lifted an eyebrow at the two-day-old black eye he was sporting. And the stubble. He hadn't been shaving. A shiver ran down her spine at the sudden picture in her mind of his head between her thighs.

Confusion and disbelief played across the newly re-established bond, like he'd caught the the tail end of that. But his thumbs stroked gently across the leather of the jacket she still wore, _his jacket_.

"Butch."

"Marleene. You came." The way his voice curled around her name had her shutting her eyes briefly. When they reopened, there was a bit of an accusation there.

"You knew Amata was-"

"I was the one who told her to."

She watched the play of emotions across his face, echoing through their bond.

And that was the most goddamn comforting thing she'd felt since she left.

Whatever else she'd had outside, everything she'd learned and lost, he was a constant that she would always be able to depend on. Especially now. For once, she knew it wasn't even their bond talking. They'd always been two peas in a rebellious pod. The fucking bond didn't, _wouldn't_ take that away from her. She'd just been so preoccupied with not being locked into anything that they'd been needlessly suffering.

Her dad dying had taught her that it was just stupid to torture yourself when the next day was never guaranteed.

And really, it surprised her that he looked as good as he did. He didn't reek of alcohol. Had he actually been handling it better than she had?

She didn't realize they'd just been staring at each other until Gomez cleared his throat gently. That broke whatever spell they'd been under. Marleene went to take a step back. Butch followed. His hands slipped beneath the leather jacket she wore, the one with an embossed snake on the back, cradling her powerful hips. He pulled her into him and pressed his cheek against hers.

"You smell warm."

Marleene jerked, startled into laughing. "I probably smell like sunshine and sweat, asshat. Eww, don't sniff me."

When she said that, the way he glowed and shook with pleased laughter left her soaking it up, pleased beyond what she wanted to admit. "Let's go. Amata can explain what the fuck's been going on around here."

He slung an arm over her shoulders, turned so they were side by side. She noticed he twisted his torso just enough that she wouldn't be able to touch the mark on his ribs and he took care not to touch hers. "Yeah, I got some questions about that. Outside is a fucking hellhole but the vault's been turned into a shithole."

"Ain't gonna disagree."

"Gomez, I-" Marleene turned to find the officer had left. Probably to avoid the soulmate reunion.

He should have known that a textbook bond wasn't in the cards for them.

Amata and the other rebels were holed up in the infirmary. One glance said they were exhausted but the glitter in their eyes told her that they still had fight left.

One corner of her mouth quirked up. Good.

"Marleene!" Amata scrambled up from where she was sitting and lunged for her best friend. Butch let her go but left one hand down near her hip, just to maintain the contact.

Marleene could sense that through their bond but then she was hugging Amata and shock boiled over.

Amata had never been thin. The Tunnel Snakes had loved to put their fangs into that perceived weakness when they were younger and Marleene, not a delicate flower herself but built more like a tank, had loved to go after them for hurting her friend. Now, as she hugged Amata, she could count her individual ribs through the vault jumpsuit.

Come to think of it, Butch had been thinner than she remembered too.

Marleene pulled away, eyes narrowing. "Does your dad know you're starving?"

"Really, Mar? That's the first thing you say to me?" Amata was smiling, joyful, but that was answer enough. She could tell that Butch shared her sentiments from the way his fingers tightened just briefly on her scarred hip.

"I'm going to punch him in his fucking teeth," she spat.

"It's not- Whatever." Amata shook her head, unwilling to die upon that hill. "He's not listening to me anymore. He might listen to you."

"I'm sorry. I think I have dirt in my ears. Did you seriously call me back because _I_ might be able to reason with the man that set Stevie Mack on Jonas _and_ my father _and_ you?"

"Look, Mar-"

She turned on Butch, temper sparking. "No, wait. You said this was your idea. Pray tell what the fuck your brilliant reasoning was because I'm drawing a blank."

"You've been outside. We want the Vault open." He shifted to balance his weight more evenly on his feet, a long conditioned response to her aggression, tempered now by his trust that she wouldn't take a swing at him.

Marleene didn't answer, just yanked her jacket to the side and lifted up her shirt to reveal the burn scars and deep divots from shrapnel that she could still feel on a bad day or when it was too damp. The scars Butch had unknowingly been stroking.

Amata gasped. Butch's face turned to stone.

"If you want to make stupid ass decisions like sending me to talk to the Fuckerseer, then you need to know that it ain't safe out there. It is kill or be killed and it fucking hurts."

"We don't have a choice." Amata sounded close to tears.

"Why? You're safe in here."

"Mar, think. You know how few people are in the Vault that could possibly have kids and it's been down one without you."

Against her will, Marleene's eyes flicked to Butch.

Amata continued, dark eyes focused intently on her friend. "We don't have the genetic diversity or the numbers to sustain a viable population. We know that because there haven't been soulmates in the Vault for years. In the...in the Bible, one of God's commandments is to multiply and replenish the earth, right?"

Marleene groaned, turning away from her best friends. She thumped her head against the beat up lockers to the left of the door. "That's low, Amata."

"But you believe in that. And I'm sorry. You know I am. I don't like trying to manipulate people and I'm not very good at it. But we need you to do this."

She turned her head to look at Butch. "Are you going to try to convince me too? Use the bond?"

He shrugged. "I suggested we kill the air filter, force the doors open."  
"Which we aren't going to do!" Amata snarled back.

"Jesus, Butch. Sorry for the blasphemy but seriously? Ugh. Fine. I'll go talk to the Fuckerseer. You're both jerks." Marleene shook her head.

"Jerks?" Butch blinked.

"That's...tame," Amata said cautiously.

"Yeah, well, it's been a long day."

Marleene didn't exactly sneak through the halls. She walked, head held high. Anyone who tried to stop her ended up on the receiving end of her fist. While breaking Brotch out of the cell, he told her about the coup that was being planned by Allan Mack.

She bared her teeth in a hunter's smile at the news.

When she made it to the Overseer's office, he stood with his back to her, looking out the window. _Idiot_. "I know you're there, Ms. Brando."

"Did you know your daughter is starving?"

His shoulders slumped a little. Her eyebrows raised at the weakness he just presented her. "I've tried to reason with her but she gives most of what she gets to the other rebels."

"Yeah. That sounds like Amata. A better leader than you ever were because she's willing to sacrifice herself to help."

Alphonse spun around. Marleene didn't move. "What do you know?"

"I actually know quite a-fucking-lot, Alphonse. I know what the world is like out there. I get it. Believe me. But I also know you can't keep this Vault closed."

"You weren't supposed to be here."

Marleene paused. "Excuse me?"

"Your father brought you here. He already had a soulmate so it was unlikely he would have any children in the Vault. But you. You were the wrench in Vault-tec's plans. The fly in the ointment."

"Okay, you lost me. What are you babbling about?"

"You're a mongrel. Everyone else in the Vault is pure human. You're corrupted by the Wasteland and radiation."

She almost heard the audible click as things fit into place. "That's why you hated me? Seriously?"

"And then you turn around and end up DeLoria's soulmate!"

"Which wasn't my idea at all and if you could pull your head out of your ass, you'd have figured that out."

"It should have been a good riddance for you. What are the odds that you'd have a soulmate in the Vault? Even worse, what were the odds that you'd end up soulmates with the one person who could stand you?"

Marleene couldn't help it. She winced as the words hit a sensitive spot she'd spent years burying. Frustration dug its claws into her through her bond. She had no clue what was wrong with Butch but he wasn't the problem right now. _Not_ punching Alphonse in the face was the problem. "Yeah, well, you're not a fucking catch yourself."

"Your existence ruins the very reason for the Vault."

"Okay, ouch. First of all, that wasn't necessary. Second of all, you-" She stopped, mouth gaping open. "The Vault was never supposed to be opened was it?"

"How'd you figure that out?"

Her nostrils flared. "I'm not as dumb as I look. That's it, isn't it? The Vault was never supposed to open and you were, what, supposed to stay genetically pure?"

Silence met her question.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me. It is taking literally every ounce of self control I have not to throttle you because that would upset Amata. And as much of a useless paperclip you're being right now, I don't want that." She huffed out a breath, wrestling her temper back down but years of resentment and extreme dislike were working against her. "You need to open the Vault."

"No."

"Because of some grand design made by people who are so far past dead that anything that would have eaten them is long dead too?"

"You've seen how dangerous it is out there."

"Yeah. And I'm still saying you need to open the Vault despite that."

"Do you hate us that much?"

She growled, eyes narrowing and fists clenching. "No, you piece of brahmin shit. I'm trying to save your useless ass. The Vault isn't viable anymore. Butch and I reconnected. He won't get you any new babies without me as much as that pains me to admit. For all his faults, he's damn loyal and you know that. Half the Vault hates the other half. How long before it actually collapses, huh?"

"I-"

She interrupted with an impatient shake of her head. "Amata will die if you keep the door closed. Do you really want that?"

"How dare you."

"It's the day for low blows, I guess."

The two stood there, braced for physical blows, not just the verbal ones that had been exchanged so far. Marleene's blood was up, hoping he'd strike first. She hated that she'd never be able to face Amata again if she hit her father. But Alphonse had never been a real fighter. He manipulated from the shadows, like a chessplayer moving pawns.

Briefly, she wondered what piece he considered her to be.

Alphonse's shoulders slumped. "You're right," he muttered, no longer meeting her eyes.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

His head jerked up to glare at her again but he had lost and they both knew it. "You heard me."

"Yeah, I did, but I want to hear it again."

"I don't know how my daughter could stand being around someone as cruel as you."

"You and me both. But if you think I'm just going to let you slide, I want to hear you say that again."

The muscles in his jaw tightened and for a moment, Marleene thought she could hear his teeth grinding against each other. "You're right."

Marleene dropped into a mock bow. "Thank you. I'll go let Amata know. Oh, and by the way, Mack was planning on leading a coup against you. I'd take care of that if I were you. Long live the Overseer."

She swept out of the room before he could respond. She let herself get tugged toward Butch like the bond wanted desperately. There was no reason to fight against it at the moment since he was probably with Amata still.

Until Wally Mack stood in her way. "You're a bitch."

"Fucking eloquent as always, Mack. What's wrong? You pissed I came back?" She mocked him with voice and a toss of her head.

"You ruined Butch."

Her eyebrows lifted. "What the hell? Is it go after Marleene with petty grievances day?" Her blood was still itching for a fight and all she had to do was poke and Wally would oblige. Unless he'd changed in the year she was gone. He didn't look like he'd changed.

"We had a good thing going and then Butch got all noble because of you and that stupid ass soulmate bond." He jabbed a finger at her chest.

"Butch? Noble?" She laughed, the sound without a trace of humor in it. He was squirming, wanting to hit her. Just a little more. _Come on, Mack. Take the damn bait._ "Please. Butch only ever does anything for himself. If he didn't side with you, then your side wasn't the one that would get him out of the Vault. Guess what that means."

Mack might have said something. But then he was swinging at her and everything in her cheered. Marleene twisted to take the hit instead of bouncing out of the way like every other time they'd gone after each other. She caught her breath at the pain and then she was turning back to him, lips twisted up into a smile, teeth bared. "Rookie mistake. Never go to blows with someone tougher than you."

She dropped, lowering her center of gravity and barrelled into him. There wasn't much finesse to any of it, just the need to hurt that she'd denied with Alphonse.

She got him to the ground, cheek stinging from a blow that had knocked her head back. Her hands went to the collar of his vault suit sans the Snakes jacket. "You are nothing, you hear me?" she hissed in his face. "I've fought and killed and nearly fucking died and you're just a big bully who never learned when to back the fuck down."

She dropped him and stood up. She was pretty sure she had a broken rib but in the list of things that concerned her, that was pretty far down on the fucking list.

And then she turned her back on him, braid swishing as she sauntered off. She heard him get up, heard the sticky squeak of his boots on the metal floor. She realized too late that he wasn't backing off.

He hit her from behind, using their combined body weights to slam her into the wall. Her face went into a bolt in the wall, near enough to her eye that panic leaped into her throat. "I ought to cut your fucking throat," he snarled in her ear.

"Try it," she gasped out, blinking to try to get the blood out of her eye. "You'll be doing me a world of favor."

"Wally, get the fuck off her, man!"

The weight at her back lifted and she shoved away from the wall to see Butch holding Wally, dragging him away from her. Her lip curled. Butch dropped Wally and grabbed Marleene as she lunged. They slid a little ways before he got his feet underneath him. Through the bond, she could feel his alarm but she just didn't fucking care, a wordless snarl ripping from her throat. "Try that again, fucking coward!" She bucked again at Wally, nearly sliding from Butch's grip before he could recover. She'd have bruises later but it didn't matter. She didn't care.

"Wally, get the fuck outta here!"

It wasn't until Wally vanished from sight that Marleene went limp though she still seethed. "You shoulda let me hit him again."

"Probably." He released her and she shook free of his grip, straightening the jacket. He probably figured she was safe. She was never safe. The wasteland had turned her into a weapon. She didn't belong in the vault anymore, if she ever did. And she wasn't a gun with a safety on it. No, she was as much a weapon as those stupid ass, Enclave controlled deathclaws.

She exhaled harshly and began to pace, shaking her head, trying to release some of the energy. Her ribs ached but she'd hurt worse before. Butch just watched her.

"Alphonse is going to open the Vault," she told him, trying to distract herself.

"Huh. Wouldn't have expected that."

"I didn't think so either. But here we all are."

She stopped, looked at Butch. He'd been beautiful as a teenager. Now, with a little maturity in his face...she sighed and winced, hand going to the wounded rib. She hadn't realized it before but it was one of the ones near the mark and her nerves were prickling expectantly when she touched the mark.

"How bad is that?" Butch jerked his chin to her side.

She opened her mouth to say 'No, it's fine, just a little sore,' but a trickle of guilt made its way through their bond. Her mouth snapped shut and she glared at him. "Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"You know how Wally and I are. That was not your fault."

A sudden need to talk to Amata overtook her and she started walking. Butch didn't move, confused. "Where ya going?"

"To talk to Amata."

He trotted up to her, grabbed her by the arm with a creak of cared for leather and stopped her. She turned, one eyebrow raised. He let go, scowling, but she stayed put. "You don't get to walk away from me."

"Oh? Am I to obey every word of my soulmate now?"

"I'd hate it if you did." His frustration snapped at her. "I've always been glad you weren't tame. Even when we were fighting."

"So what do you think is going to happen? That you and I will get married, have a handful of little black haired kids, grow old and quiet together?" The acid in her voice strengthened on the last part. Part of her wanted the rest of it, no matter how much she bucked and fought it, and she wasn't entirely sure that it wasn't the part devoted fully to the bond. But quiet wasn't her, had never been her, and she'd be damned if she'd turn quiet for anyone.

But he had softened too as she'd talked, until that last part when he pulled a face. "Look, I know kids ain't in your plans. They never been. We wouldn't need to have any."

"And what if you end up wanting some?"

He shrugged. "We can figure something out. Or you can. You're the smarter one."

"Is Butch getting soft on me?" she teased him to disguise the sudden dread she felt. Wally couldn't have actually been telling the truth.

Butch made a sound like an angry cat. "Ew. No."

He didn't want to lose who he was anymore than she did. Marleene raised an eyebrow. Well. That changed some things. But not the fact that she didn't want to waste time she wasn't sure she had. Decision suddenly made, she shrugged. "Alright."

She started walking away. "Wait." Butch didn't ask a question but the question was clear in his voice.

"Come on, asshat. Or are you planning on staying in the vault alone?"

She didn't get any sense that he was following so she turned so she was walking backwards. He was staring after her, jaw dropped and absolutely baffled. She rolled her eyes. "That means I want you to come with me. I wasn't speaking in tongues. Let's go."

Excitement lit up his face and he bounded up to her as she turned back around, relieved that he was going to follow. And then he draped an arm across her shoulders, preening a little. "Knew you'd look good in my jacket. Can't wait to see it off," he rumbled at her.

"Fuck off, Butch." She couldn't have disguised the laughter in her voice if she'd wanted to. Which she didn't. She would never have admitted it sober how much she missed this camaraderie but it warmed a place in her soul that had been deadened by the wasteland.

"Just say the words, Mar." She looked up him to see the dark heat in his blue, blue eyes, the promise he was making without saying the words.

She reached around her own body to brush her knuckles against the mark on his ribs, smiling when want punched into her over the bond and he sucked in a startled breath. "Oh, Butch," she murmured, looking away and feeling the weight of his gaze in the prickling of her skin. Her lips curved more, mischief in her eyes and a razor in her smile. "I'll be saying something."

Marleene knew neither of them were necessarily good people and from the way Butch had latched onto their bond from the moment he realized they had it, even if he'd avoided her, he wasn't likely to let her go again. Two selfish people who had never been good about letting anything go. That suited her just fine because she didn't plan on letting him go either. Life was too short.

Her father had taught her that as his final lesson.

* * *

 ** _AN : That's all she wrote, folks! Let me know what you thought. This has been a fun little ride with Mar and Butch and my first multi-chapter fic that I've finished so far. Bit of a milestone. Phew.  
Thanks for reading! Seriously. Love y'all._**

 ** _If you read Crazy He Calls Me, no chapter next week but there will be one the week after. Assuming that is the first week of November. That's the next one._**

 ** _Thanks again for reading this little project._**


End file.
